Wtf Ea?

I agree. I heard about this yesterday in unrelated news article.

I will join in this little unofficial boycott of EA Games.

One thing that struck me odd about this:

While the hours are ridiculous and no compensation for them is beyond comprehension, wouldn't the production being exactly on schedule indicate that the crazy hours were necessary? It seems like the complaint is about unnecessary overtime when it should be about unrealistic ship dates.

Glad to hear I wasn't the only one confused by that recurring assertion.

Let's be honest, other than the 101% excellent Tiger Woods series there aren't many EA Games worth boycotting.

I don't buy any EA games. The only one i've played recently was Battlefield Vietnam which wasn't even developed my EA. Whats interesting was that in the early 90's they made the best sport games specifically NBA Live 95 being the pinnacle. From then on they turned out recycled shit i've been boycotting them for years and this story only makes me feel better in that regard.

Years ago they did some great games, like 'Fade to Black' and 'Futurecop: LAPD' on the PSone. Now they buy and fuck with franchises (Burnout, Command and Conquer) and release shitty sports rehashes. Return of the King was good, but otherwise I've nothing good from them recently. They don't have the balls to release 'real' or mature games like Ubisoft, of who my love knows no ends.

Command and Conquer now that was a title I loved years ago which has gotten quite awful.

They love to license things. What was up with Catwoman though?

I will admit that I've shared some love with some of their titles (James Bond: EoN, Burnout 3, NFS:U) but workers not getting those coverages is a very stupid move for EA.

I don't get the love for James Bond: EoN. I rented it, and it didn't find it at all enjoyable to play. It's boring and feels like a chore. Plus the driving missions in Agent Under Fire were the best, at least they nailed the atmosphere. Every car had a huge smoky explosion which you blew through, and the James Bond music was blaring and overblown in the background while you flew through the streets. It was exciting, it nailed the atmosphere right-on.

Nightfire fucked it up, instead of offering free city streets to navigate it stuck you on a single linear road, like an obstacle course. EoN offered a degree of freedom again in the driving sections, but it simply wasn't exciting, it used NFS's driving engine and it shows. It was more like a driving simulator, to slow and frustraing when you want to be zipping around blowing up cars. Both Nightfire and EoN also lacked the blaring bond music everytime you got a 007 moment, it really added to the feel of the game.

Agent Under Fire was far from perfect, but it could be damn fun and nailed the feel of a 007 action sequence like no other game ever has, incudling Goldeneye.

Since I *already* have Sims 2... can I just boycott future games?

I can imagine EA being kind of cheap. They inject a ton of money into their games, licensed songs, high production values, actors likenesses, etc etc... Their games in recent years "look" expensive. But they seem to cut corners in other areas. I rented the new LOTR Third Age game (not too shabby by the way) and was fortunate enough to get the manual too, and it was the most anemic instruction manual I've ever seen. It was pretty sad. I get a bit of a nerd thrill I guess from well produced instruction manuals and this one was like a slap to the face. Ouch.

I can totally see them holding back on overtime money:

"We went over budget! You're all not getting paid till we sell a bazillion copies and break even! Then we need to selll a gazillion more, then you'll get paid! Until then... BACK TO WORK, YOU DOGS!!!"

Welcome to the video game industry.

Well, shit. I'm in the process of applying for three different jobs at EA.

This should be emphasized.

Fuck that, welcome to the 'real world' in general!...Glad you could join us!!

Here's some more food for thought.....nice read.

An Academic's Field Guide to Electronic Arts